The proposed Cyberspace Self-Defense Force in relation to existing units

Although rather grandiose-sounding (and reminiscent of the fictional ISDF introduced in the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory game), the unit will be a centralized tech support, risk assessment and cyber-investigation group rather than a force equivalent to the GSDF, MSDF and ASDF. I hope they choose a different name, as this one is just asking to be torn apart by Japan’s neighbors. [My bad, see comments]

» ¥72.3 billion for the construction of a new 5,000-ton destroyer: the destroyer will reportedly be an overhaul of the Akizuki-class with improved counter-submarine capabilities and a lower life-cycle cost as a result of the use of Combined Gas turbine Electric And Gas turbine (COGLAG) propulsion.

»¥7.2 towards the development of a new field communications system: utilizing recent technology and mass production to leverage economy of scale, the SDF is looking to implement lessons learned from the Tohoku Earthquake and undoubtedly to catch up with American developments in the field.

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A former contributor to World Intelligence (Japan Military Review), James Simpson joined Japan Security Watch in 2011, migrating with his blog Defending Japan. He has a Masters in Security Studies from Aberystwyth University and is currently living in Kawasaki, Japan.
His primary interests include the so-called 'normalization' of Japanese security (i.e. militarization), and the political impact of the abduction issue with North Korea.
James Simpson has 254 post(s) on Japan Security Watch

17 comments

1) Just as I thought the Japanese finally gave up trying to the hopeless endeavor of appeasing those neighbors to which you refer to, but no, there is no “Self” in the proposed name. It is just the Cyberspace Defense-tai (P.11/50), and the last tai will probably be rated “Unit” rather than “Force.”

2) F-35: Sigh, nothing more needs to be said about this “wonderful” program, the F-35.

3) AAV7: I’ve had my say on that too. I’ve checked Google Earth, and Tri-Ring is right, but on the other hand the terrain looks so rough I don’t see the AAV7 doing much better either.

I understand that the 4 vehicles are supposed to be samples. On the other hand, did they even ask the US Marines for some mutual exercises to demonstrate the ability of the vehicles to actually land in terrain similar to the Senkakus, or given a suitable landing site to deliver the landing force under realistic Japanese support conditions (read: I don’t see Japan being able to deliver the kind of covering fire, or preceding heliborne assault to protect these turtles like the US Marines are able to do) before even trying an sample buy? Was there even a tabletop exercise?

Besides, the darn things cost 6.25oku yen each. That’s comparable to the Type 89 IFV and we all know what the cost did to the purchase count there – the Type 96 buy at over 1oku each is itself depressing. If for some reason the program pans out (or they close their eyes to the deficiencies), is there reason to believe they’ll buy sufficient quantities?

4) The IR-detection UAV does apparently make sense. The DSP satellites have limited resolution and reliability when dealing with the less than ICBM rockets Nodong uses. If they can get more reliable and accurate UAV direction and initial tracking, they can provide better target-designation data to the FPS-5 and improve its probability of acquisition. They are probably also concerned about that little flummox with the last time the NKs (tried to) sent up a satellite.

5) It wasn’t that long ago when 25DD is actually supposed to be an economy model, more of a replacement to the Abukumas. There was an article only in Feb-2012 Sekai no Kansei on that. On one hand I can be pleased they are upgrading from a smaller to a bigger destroyer. On the other hand, in these times of limited budget the Japanese would do well to consider smaller, cheaper ships that can be built in quantity for their regional forces.

6) P.21 Not budget related, but some small shakeups of the structure. The Joint Staff is getting bigger with new departments for “External Liaison & Coordination” and Joint Training. The shift in emphasis to the Southwest means the 6th Division loses its antiaircraft group while 15th Brigade gains an antiair regiment. And a new “Air Tactics Wing” to improve the combined arms employment of the ASDF.

7) P.31-34&42: The statistics show how the SDF is again a victim of salami slicing tactics so the government can waste money on “public works” projects and welfare. Like in all too many Western governments, the wrong things are being cut, again…

8) P.37 Only got a one line mention, but among possible ideas they settled for to send F-2 pilots to the US for training to compensate for the loss of all those F-2Bs last year.

In a way it’s the same as car models. If you compare the first Honda Civic the size is similar to the present Honda fit.
The size of Destroyer and Frigates had scaled up due to transition in requirements. Present destroyers are platform for Ballistic Missile Defense requiring high powered tracking systems incorporated into CIS. Frigates scaled up to fill in the position that destroyers filled in the past acting as escort to search and defend high prioritized assets like BMD DDGs and DDHs.

The big upgrade for those two classes will be the installation of some variant of the FCS-3 and replacement of the combat systems with the latest version. The two jobs will at least cost half a new ship and the ship will be out of the line for a extended period. Further, it’ll mean a interruption to the flow of goeikan which is approaching its lower limit.

You’ll have to tear up half of the ship to install making it more simpler to construct a new ship than to refurbish the old.
It’s like construction of office buildings, the ones built in the 80′s&90′s which did not have extended wiring for IT installation in mind. To refurbish these buildings you need to tear up walls ceilings and floors to add new conduits for all these new wiring and still not meet some specs. due to lay out and/or power requirements.
End result scrap and build.

I think the proposed new ships are simply replacements of the asagiri and hatsuyuki class. I predict they wont be much different from the akizuki class. The same old combination of essm, asroc, phalanx , fcs3 , unless theres some groundbreaking weaponry in development Which i dont know about.

Rather than replace any existing classes, I think the 25DD class may actually be aimed at augmenting the District Forces. I wonder if the design will take anything from the 2007 version of the 19DD design, as shown in a much earlier JSW post:

From the original post: “In 2007, after blueprints for the first ship had been completed, the first design pictured below was proposed. The design implemented quite a few changes, with additional room for a UAV in the aircraft hangar and a UUV in the Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat storage area. Point defense went from Phalanx 1B to SeaRAM. The original design also called for more stealthy features, particularly the mast and a forward gun that recessed into a stealthy enclosure. Cost was projected at JPY85 billion. The design was not approved.”

Yeah I was think about that as well. My pet theory after reviewing the rather odd selection of F-35 over the other candidates when the airframes of the F-4J are already overdue for retirement makes me wonder if Japan struck a secret deal with the US to ensure the US would not interfere with the F-3 project like they did with the F-2.
Japan really drew the short end of the stick with the F-2 project with budget overruns due to constant interventions by the US on every turn of the project.
Looking at the i3 fighter concept drawing, I believe Mitsubishi Heavy may even have initial talks with Boeing over this project with it’s uncanny similarities with the Boeing F/A-XX project.

Another project I found some what spooky is the Epsilon rocket development project.
It’s suppose to be a commercial rocket but it is powered by solid propulsion, has a payload of 1,200Kg/LEO (250km x 500km). It can be assembled within 7 days and the most scary of all is that it can be launched within three hours after attaching final payload.
This is an ICBM launch vehicle in every other ways.